Sana gave HFC early lead; Loss leaves HFC bottom of Group E

Guwahati: After the hard-fought draw against Delhi FC in the Group opener, Hyderabad FC fell to a tough defeat in the hands of Chennaiyin FC in their second game of Durand Cup 2023 at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati on Thursday.

Chinglensana Konsham scored from the spot (4’) but an Alex Saji own goal (6’) along with goals from Connor Shields (15’) and Jordan Murray (46’) sealed the three points for the Machans on the night.

Sana scored after Hitesh Sharma won the early penalty at the end of a Sahil Tavora corner while Aaren D’Silva, Mark Zothanpuia and Aron Vanlalrinchhana managed to create a few decent half-chances in attack.

But Alex with a sliced clearance and Anuj Kumar with a simple giveaway at the back helped Chennai come back from behind to secure a narrow lead going into the break.

#HFCCFC ends in a hard fought defeat at Sarusajai!#DurandCup2023 #WeAreHFC #మనహైదరాబాద్ #HyderabadFC 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/h02dVmTOFS

— Hyderabad FC (@HydFCOfficial) August 10, 2023

The lead was doubled right after the restart as Murray was set free from Ayush Adhikari’s pass over the top made no mistake one-on-one with the keeper.

The two-goal lead proved a bit too tough for HFC to crawl back even as the likes of Ramhlunchhunga and Mohammad Yasir added some attacking impetus later in the game.

Nim Dorjee, Manoj Mohammad, Sajad Parray and Danmawia, who came off the bench, all stuck to their task but it was Chennai who ran away with all three points on the night.

This leaves HFC at the bottom of Group E with just a point from their first two games,

The boys are back in action when they take on Tribhuvan Army FC in the final Group E game of the current edition of the Durand Cup on Tuesday, August 22.